December 1, 2011

Credit Where Credit Is Due: Indy Car’s Angstadt and Barnhart

In the wake of shakeups at Indy Car, it is appropriate at this juncture to offer thanks to both Brian Barnhart and Terry Angstadt for things about which they have never been given enough credit.

Angstadt, for example, secured quality long term sponsorship in Indy Car. The IZOD title sponsorship is a great example. That type of funding and support has been hard to come by over the past few years, but he made it happen and it has moved the series forward.

My only wish is that he would have placed as much emphasis on the cultivation and growth of oval racing as far flung money grabs from temporary circuit festivals. China is August is good from a money and international growth standpoint, but it messed up the ‘prime time’ of the racing season domestically.

That said, he moved the needle for the series, and that effort is appreciated.

Barnhart will hopefully stick around in the series in his redefined role. In his old capacity in race control he became a magnet for the hysterical screeching of some really stupid people. That screeching always gave me a sense of dismay that such people are supposedly racing fans. Most of those offering blind criticism obviously had ulterior motives, but that kind of nonsense has been polluting the sport since 1996. Barnhart’s links to the IRL period would never have been forgotten by some of the most grotesquely ignorant.

Sure he made mistakes. Those in that role always do. It is perhaps the most difficult, thankless job in the paddock. It may have even sent Al, Jr. fleeing back to the relative comfort of the bottle. Barnhart’s longevity is a rarity, and the overall job he did was better than the way the critics position it.

Personally I did not shriek with outrage over either Loudon or Baltimore. Both seemed to be honest mistakes borne of reliance on bad source data. I also think the ‘ding dong the witch is dead’ dancing being done by the usual idiots (led by Robin Miller) is a blight to sport. My biggest problem with Race Control, believe it or not, had to do with the micromanagement of the competition that began after the road racers began re-occupying the sport. The most glaring specific example is the way the quality racing at Richmond was needlessly destroyed. That must see venue always provided excitement until it was turned into a single file parade for a couple of years prior to its demise.

Now that the page has been turned it is time to offer thanks to two individuals who contributed a lot of their time, effort (and hair) for the evolution of the sport.

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“In his old capacity in race control he (Barnhart) became a magnet for the hysterical screeching of some really stupid people. That screeching always gave me a sense of dismay that such people are supposedly racing fans. Most of those offering blind criticism obviously had ulterior motives, but that kind of nonsense has been polluting the sport since 1996. Barnhart’s links to the IRL period would never have been forgotten by some of the most grotesquely ignorant.

I also think the ‘ding dong the witch is dead’ dancing being done by the usual idiots (led by Robin Miller) is a blight to sport.”

Defender, you don’t know how right you are. These people do exist, and they are scary in their ignorance and bias (which they refuse to see). You can find them on the internet by their use of TGBB. Anyone uttering TGBB is as described above and needs to be totally ignored. Beginning with that idiot Robin Miller.

Editor’s Note: Nah…not really. It’s evolutionary. Something that keeps those of us who have been fans for multiple decades interested. Barnhart might as well have been Jesus Christ; it would not have mattered to many of the critics simply because he was hired by Tony George.